Google and Apple have successfully made contactless card payments an essential part of all our favorite phones out there, and now, the companies are looking to add digital IDs and driver's licenses to their devices. While the feature is already live in select US states on iPhones, Google is only now getting ready to add digital driver’s licenses to Android. The December Google Play system update adds state IDs and driver’s licenses to Google Wallet as a beta, allowing residents of some US states to present their documents without carrying physical copies in their wallets. Additionally, the update is preparing support for casting to tablets, possibly in preparation for the Google Pixel Tablet.

The Google Play system updates are not to be confused with Google’s monthly system updates with security patches. Instead, the Play system updates are coming to all phones on recent Android versions and bring new features and improvements to the Google Play Services and the Play Store, the core parts of Google’s software that takes care of everything from notifications and app updates to proper API connections.

With the December 2022 update, Google has a lot of bug fixes and improvements on offer, with two sticking out. The first one is a new “Beta feature to allow users from selected US state(s) to digitize their state ID/driver's license into the Google Wallet for convenient, private and secure presentation.” This is the first step towards digital IDs, and it’s something that Google initially announced during its developer conference Google I/O in May 2022. As described by Esper’s Android expert Mishaal Rahman, the technological foundation for this feature was laid, but now the company is working together with regulators and governments to finally make it a reality.

Google didn’t make clear which states will work with the new digital licenses and IDs. Given that this is mostly about regulation, it’s possible that it will be mostly the same states that already support Apple’s digital IDs. According to MacRumors, these are currently Arizona, Maryland, and Colorado. Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah are said to be committed to supporting Apple’s feature in the future, too, which implies they might work with Google as well.

The other change is related to casting, and it adds a notice that will “Inform the user when casting to a Tablet device needing user interaction.” While Google doesn’t give us any specifics beyond that, it’s likely that this is preparation for the company’s upcoming Pixel Tablet. The tablet is supposed to double as a smart display when docked to a stand, and it should be able to receive cast transmissions much like any great smart display with Assistant or an Android TV.

The notice that Google wants to implement implies that you may sometimes have to tweak the Pixel Tablet when you want to cast, and give you instructions on what to do. You might have to dock the tablet, change the user, or unlock the screen to make casting work. As we said, the company hasn’t shared any specifics on this yet, so we will need to wait and see what this notice actually wants you to do.

For the rest of what's new in the December Play system update, take a look at the company’s changelog.

The Play system update will gradually start rolling out to your devices, and will be installed in the background. The new features come as part of Google Play services v48.22 and Google Play Store v33.2.